1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a steamer for use as an iron.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is generally known that irons or pressers apply steam and pressure, sometimes with the addition of water, to clothes so as to remove wrinkles. However, it is also known that the heat and pressure tend to damage the delicate features and property of the clothes. To solve this problem, the recent practice is to iron clothes without applying pressure but only with steam.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3372499, No. 3436851, No. 3755649, No. 3470719, No. 3485065 and No. 3546428 disclose irons using steam. These known irons have a major difficulty in switching between the ejection and stopping of steam while the irons are in use. In addition, unvaporized hot water leaks through the irons when they are tilted to eject steam against the clothes. The users are in danger of being scalded and the clothes are also in danger of being dampened.
To solve the problems resulting from the leakage of scalding hot water, U.S. Pat. No. 3733723 proposes a steamer having a tank and a vaporizing chamber separated from the tank, the water in the tank being forced into the vaporizing chamber. This expedient is effective to prevent the hot water from spilling even if the steamer is tilted or turned upside down. Nevertheless, this steamer has not solved the difficulty in effecting the easy changeover between the ejection and stopping of steam. To achieve the easy changeover, the steamers have sacrificed the handiness.
There are another type of steamers which are provided with a manually-operated pump for supplying a required amount of water from the tank to the vaporizing chamber where necessary. These steamers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3395469, Japanese Patent Publications No. 52-2030, No. 54-31559, and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 46-6494. They are advantageous in that an adequate amount of steam is supplied for ironing clothes, thereby avoiding generating steam excessively. However, the following disadvantages arise:
1. Consciously or unconsciously, the iron user tends to work the pump excessively, thereby supplying water in excess to the vaporizing chamber. As a result, the temperature in the tank suddenly drops and the supplied water is ejected before being vaporized. This ejection of hot water results from an unexpected rise in pressure in a pipe connecting between the pump and the vaporizing chamber.
2. The user suddenly encounters a scalding accident, especially when he is not aware of his pumping excessively.